Still Beautiful to Me
by Scarlett Oakenshield
Summary: "You will always be beautiful to me." He said, "Even with your battle scar." "Really?" "Yes, really." And he kissed her again. Just a cute little one shot/ drabble. Read and review please!


Beautiful to Me

It was Saturday. Class was not in session. Everyone was home due to the recent events that had occurred. Everyone, including Lord Death, needed to rest. So Stein and Marie were having a quiet night in.

Stein was sitting on the couch, quietly smoking a cigarette. His coat was strewn over the arm of the couch so he sat in his wool grey and brown jumper. Marie on the other hand was in a pair of grey sweats and a white tank top. She was curled up on the couch beside him, resting against his shoulder dozing. Two half-finished cups of tea sat on the coasters on the table in front of them.

Stein looked down at Marie. She looked so peaceful there. Her blonde hair fell perfectly at her shoulders, and her brown eyes…or eye (she always wore that eye patch) remained closed. She had a simple, pretty face, he decided. As she reclined against him, he fought back the urge to snake his arm around her and pull her in closer. A sudden draft passed through the room, and Marie shivered and curled up in a tighter ball. Stein looked at her and then used his free hand to grab his coat. He put it around her shoulders and she tightened it around her, scooting closer to him so she was pressed against the wool of the jumper on his chest. He freed his stiff arm and shook it out and then put it around her, rubbing a spot in between her shoulder blades. Then he started to stroke her blonde hair and run his fingers through it. As he did he continued to look down at her. She was actually in a light sleep now, breathing softly, but there was still a seemingly permanent smile on her face. And that it was he admired. This woman knew how to brighten anyone's day.

_"She brings out the best in me," _he thought, _"She saved my life dragging me from my madness, that's now buried deep inside where it belongs, and I don't know how I'm gonna repay her." _He sighed and smiled down at her sleeping form again, fighting back yet another urge, this one being planting a kiss on her head. _But I can't help but wonder…why does she always wear that eye patch?_ _She is beautiful, very beautiful, but I bet she'd be even more beautiful without that eye patch. _It was then that Stein had the urge to pull off the patch, just for a second, then he'd put it back on. He wanted to see the rest of her face. He figured he could do it unnoticed if he was quick. Curiosity drove him. He carefully hooked his finger on the band that held it on and took it off quickly; the moment he did he realized he'd made a horrible mistake. Marie jumped and slapped a hand over her eye, "GET AWAY! DON'T LOOK AT ME!" she turned, getting as far away from him as possible, her back to him. This startled him.

"Marie…" it was then that he realized she was crying. Her shoulders trembled and she hugged herself, curled up in a ball on the other end of the couch.

"Marie…I'm sorry, I didn't know the eye patch was such a big deal." He said, regret and apology in his voice.

"You would if you saw my face." was her reply.

"Marie, I'm sure it can't be that bad." He scooted towards her and tried to turn her around.

"No don't…please. I'm hideous…ugly…don't look at me."

"Don't say that about yourself Marie. You're not ugly, you know that. Now come on, please look at me and show me your smile."

"No," she replied, "You wouldn't think that if you saw my face."

"Marie, please, just let me see, I won't do anything I promise, I just want to look." His tone was soft and gentle, "I'm sure you don't look that bad." His hand was on her shoulder.

"Do you really want to see?"

"Yes."

She sat up and slowly turned her head towards him. Tears still fell down her face and blonde hair was covering the left-hand side of her face. He faced her, and with one hand on her shoulder he used the other to part her hair. With each strand he moved more tears began to fall. Finally he finished and got a close look of her entire face. When he saw what the eye patch had covered he felt a strong pity for her. The entire area around her eye was pink and scarred, and the eye itself was clouded over. So she was blind in that eye then.

"oh Marie…"

She started to cry again. "Go on," she said, "Tell me how ugly it is! Say it! Say that it's hideous and gross! Run, scream, I don't know, do something!"

While she was ranting, Stein just studied her and watched. Seriously considering what he was about to do.

"Well don't just stand there!" Marie cried out through her tears, "Say something! Tel me I'm ugly, tell me-"

She was cut off as Stein silenced her by planting a kiss on her lips. She froze before kissing back. Stein deepened the kiss and after a few blissful seconds, they stopped kissing and he cupped her face, wiping the tears away.

"You will always be beautiful to me." He said, "Even with your battle scar."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." And he kissed her again.

_"Your skin, oh yeah, your skin and bones, turn in to something beautiful. Do you know, you know I love you so, you know I love you so..."_

-Coldplay


End file.
